Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery  28Apr2017

Friday was such a nice day after the record setting rains that I had to make the longish walk (2 miles) to the Greenwood area to visit Flying Bike. As with Peddler I haven’t visited for some time and on my last visit I thought the beers were too sweet and had some diacetyl, which led me to think the beers were under pitched. Perhaps I have put off visiting again because the walk is too much energy to expend for ordinary beer.

The brewery sits on a shady block of Greenwood  –  the trees forming an inviting setting. The brewery front comprises two large garage-door type openings, which on a nice day like Friday gives the taproom a light airy feeling. 

Flying Bike on Greenwood. Note the tree on the left and the large open doors.

As you walk in the front door you see the bar and the brew kit to the right while a seating area is in front of you. 

The view from the front door looking slightly to the right. The beer list is above the guy with a hat.

View from the front door looking straight right.

The beer list is written in marker on the tiles behind the bar. 

The beer list gives a lot of information about each beer.

The writing is clear but you need to be near to read it easily. I pulled up a stool at the bar and ordered a flight of six five ounce tasters.

Beer number 1, Rainemaker, is to the left side of the list under the six. The rest are listed counterclockwise from 1; Bockanalia, Molly's Bloomers Stout (nitro), Mosaic Sorachi Ace, Tropical Refresher, and Rigmarole.

Tasting Notes:

Bockanalia (6.4%, 34 IBU): Faint aroma of cherries. Clear amber. Sweet malt-forward flavor with some minerality followed by some hop bitterness. Full body. Bitter sweet finish.

Rigmarole Red Rye (5.8%, 40 IBU): Sharp and sweet malt aroma. Clear red amber. Acrid rye malt flavor. Full body and sweet but dry. Bitter finish.

Molly’s Bloomers Irish Dry Stout (3.2%, 50 IBU): Clear black with red highlights. Roast malt aroma and some (Golding?) hops. Thin body, roast malt and restrained bitterness. Dry bitter finish. Drinks like less than 50 IBU.

Tropical Refresher (4.4%, 30 IBU): Clear red-gold. Fruity hop aroma. Malt-hop balance and dry with some slight minerality. Fruity hop flavor. Bitter dry finish.

Rainemaker NW IPA (6.4%, 60 IBU): Fruity dank hop aroma. Clear gold. Fruity hop, sweet malt flavors. Dry – fermented out. Bitter sweet finish.

Mosaic Sorachi Ace (7.3%, 70 IBU): Red gold clear. Onion and manure hop aroma. Very bitter hops (onion and pine) with good malt body. Lingering bitter finish.

The beers were all much better on this visit and I would have no problem recommending a visit if you are in the Greenwood area. Flying Bike is just a few doors up the street from Naked City, and both places benefit from being neighborhood hangouts. Greenwood itself has a lot of retail businesses surrounded by residential areas, so families and couples find their way into Flying Bike. In the winter the décor is a little cold and in the spring, summer, and fall the place is light and inviting when the garage doors are open. I hung out at the bar and finished all my tasters but the Rigmarole and Mosaic Sorachi Ace. I could have stayed longer but needed to get home to thaw out dinner.

The long walk back home was mostly downhill and the sun still shined.

Peddler Brewing

Peddler Brewing  26Apr2017

Peddler is within walking distance of my home in Ballard so I did that – walk that is. I haven’t visited in over a year and the last time I was there the beer was not to my taste. The beers I had were too sweet and had some diacetyl, which led me to think the beers were under pitched. Perhaps that is the reason I have put off taking the 15 minute walk to their front door. Peddler is on Leary Way NW in the space formerly inhabited by Maritime Pacific. They have limited outdoor seating on the sidewalk and a beer garden in the back. Today the weather was too crummy to sit outside.

Peddler with its large windows, inviting doorway, and an openable garage door for warmer weather. A small outdoor, sidewalk seating area is not in use due to the wet and cool weather.

The brewery entrance is right off Leary on an expansive stretch of sidewalk. As you walk in the door you see the brew kit straight ahead on the path to the beer garden. 

The view of the brew kit and the way to the back beer garden.

 The seating area and the bar are to your right.

The bar and some seating with the chalk board beer list.

The seating area and bar are in a well-lighted space overseen by large windows. The offerings are chalked on a board above the bar with all of the statistics clearly written. Tasters of 4 oz., pints of 16 oz., and growlers are all available. I ordered six four ounce tasters.

Six tasters - right side top to bottom; Rando Red Imperial IPA, Pedal Strike Pale, and On Your Left IPA. Left side top to bottom; Chocolate Stout, Tropic Thunder IPA, and Wildflower Honey Wit.

Tasting Notes:

Pedal Strike Pale (4.6%, 22 IBU): Fruity hop aroma. Cloudy yellow gold. Bitter, dry malt, piney hops. Finishes with the flavor of NW hops and dry.

On Your Left IPA (6.2%, 77 IBU): NW hop aroma. Orange gold color and clear. Hop assault, malt full body, piney hop flavor. Very bitter. Bitter finish

Rando Red Imperial IPA (7.5%, 52 IBU): Cloudy red. Fruity hop aroma with some malt. Very bitter hop flavor, and rich dry malt body with some esters. Middle flavor of hop candy. Bitter sweet finish.

Tropic Thunder IPA (6.0%, 60 IBU): Clear red-gold. Fruity hop aroma. Fruity hop-malt balance still bitter. Dry. Bitter dry finish.

Wildflower Honey Wit (6.0%, 15 IBU): Flower (Ginger, coriander, lavender) aroma. Clear pale yellow. Flowers and potpourri, then saison like flavors. Dry flower finish.

Chocolate Stout (5.0%, 23 IBU): Opaque black with red highlights. Chocolate, coffee, roast malt aroma. Chocolate and rich malt flavor with a late roasty-ness. Sweet chocolate finish.

Not everyone who hangs out at Peddler is a bicyclist. I mean, I was there after all. The indoor seating area is open, light, and airy – very inviting on a winter’s or early spring day. I haven’t sat outside, and I hope the seating there is a little more comfortable than the high stools inside. The beers on this visit were all well made. The IPAs were all properly imbalanced to varying degrees of bitterness, the wit was very perfumey, and the chocolate stout hit all the notes I look for.

I made the short hike - uphill - back home while dodging yet another rain shower, which has been way too common an occurrence this record setting, wet year.